


Fairest Flowers of the Season

by windsofsilesse



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu | Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
Genre: Angst, Gen, Pre-Canon, originally written for the Heir to the Holy Flame zine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:34:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27923092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/windsofsilesse/pseuds/windsofsilesse
Summary: Julius starts a small project of growing flowers in the Belhalla gardens. Arvis helps, to some extent.
Relationships: Arvis & Yuria | Julia, Arvis & Yurius | Julius
Kudos: 11





	Fairest Flowers of the Season

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! As the tags say, this was written for the Heir to the Holy Flame Zine. I highly suggest you check it out; it has so much good content from very talented creators! I hope you enjoy my contribution to it.

“Father!” A young Julius, grinning, ran over to Arvis. He nearly tripped over a few stray rocks on the otherwise smooth stone paths in Belhalla’s gardens. “Close your eyes and open your hands!”

It took a moment for him to react. There was something cupped in his hands, and Arvis was praying to the gods that it wasn’t some sort of bug or creature. No matter how many times he tried to dissuade Julius from picking up bugs and frogs in the mud, he failed. “S-Sure.”

Prepared to feel something crawl up his arm, he shut his eyes tightly and held out his hands together. Arvis didn’t notice that something had been put in his hands until Julius commanded him to open his eyes. He was faced with small, dark dots resting in the palm of his hand.

“They’re seeds. One of the gardeners gave them to me,” he explained. “Could we plant them?”

“But why not let the gardeners do that?” He had no idea how to care for plants, much less the correct way to plant them without causing them to die.

Julius frowned. “It’s different, Father…” he mumbled dejectedly. “It’s different because I’m doing it with you! And when it blossoms we’ll have grown it together!”

“But I don’t know how to--”

“It’s fine! We’ll figure it out!” He grabbed the hand that didn’t have the seeds in it and tugged at his arm. “Please?”

“Alright,” Arvis said, sighing. He was barely able to hide a smile, though; Julius’ enthusiasm was infectious, even if this venture would mean a wilted plant, a wasted garden plot, and dirty hands. Julius brought him towards a plot in a different section of the garden. He’d never known how large the garden could be. Ever since his showdown with Sigurd’s army at Belhalla, he’d barely had a chance to rest. Most of his time was spent in his study or traveling to meet with the dukes and duchesses of his new Grannvale. As much as he hated to admit it, he hadn’t paid enough attention to his family, which he tried to rectify whenever he had free time. “Do you know what kind of flowers these are, dear?”

He kneeled down in front of the empty plot. It was under the full light of the sun; it was the perfect time to plant these, or so Arvis hoped. It was common sense that they shouldn’t plant flowers while there was still the risk of extreme cold, but now that it was summer they didn’t need to worry about that. “We’ll figure it out!” he said, pressing a thumb into the dirt. Arvis watched on quietly. “The gardener told me to press in the dirt with my thumb, then place the seeds and cover them a little bit.”

Gardening didn’t seem to be a very precise science, at least when it came to how Julius did it. Arvis started doing the same thing; make an indent in the dirt with the tip of his thumb, grab some seeds off the palm of his hand and place them in the indent, then cover them with a thin layer of soil.

“I think we have to clip some of them when they grow too much, but that’s later,” Julius said. A bright smile on his face, he turned towards Arvis. “We’ll have to water them too, everyday.”

“Julius… you know I’m busy. You might have to take care of them yourself,” He patted Julius’ shoulder, “If I have the time, I’ll try my best to help.”

The young redhead paused for a moment. “It’s okay, Father,” he said, smiling; Arvis could sense that he was disappointed still. “I can get Julia to help me a bit! It’ll be fine!” Suddenly, he threw his arms around Arvis.

Arvis sighed quietly and returned the hug. I don’t deserve this, he thought.

*****

In the middle of the summer, when Grannvale was at its hottest, Arvis heard quick knocking at the door of his study. “Father?”

Wiping the sweat off his brow with the corner of his sleeve, he opened the door a bit and stared down. Julius and Julia awaited him. Both of them smiled brightly.

“Dears… you know I’m working,” He opened the door more and kneeled almost to their level. “What’s the matter?”

“Oh… sorry,” Julius said. “We just wanted to tell you that the flowers have completely bloomed!” Arvis smiled warmly. In all honesty, he could use a break from the stifling heat in his study. His hand had begun to cramp from all that he had been writing. “Y-You can come see whenever you’re free. But we also have a surprise!”

“I don’t mind coming along now,” He rose to his feet and stretched slightly. “Just remember that I’m very busy in there, alright? Come only when it’s an emergency.”

“Okay! Sorry, Father!” They were both too excited that Arvis was coming along with them to care that they were being reprimanded. They skipped ahead of him down the winding halls of Belhalla, towards the castle’s side where the gardens were. It was a little suspenseful, having to walk to all the way to the back of the garden where the empty plots laid.

He was met with two bushes. They were as different as night and day; one had many thin branches with tiny white flowers at their ends, while the other had thorny stems and flowers of a deep shade of maroon. In the light, the color was pretty much black.

“How lovely…” Arvis murmured, putting an arm around his children. “I almost can’t believe that you did this all on your own.” He hadn’t helped them as much as he wished; he’d directed them with watering and pruning a few times, but they did a majority of the work. And the black flowers that had bloomed were not his doing either.

“We also planted those flowers,” Julia said softly, pointing towards the new bush. “They’re roses, and the other ones are baby’s breath.” She skimmed through the book, a journal of flowers, and showed Arvis both of them.

He paused. This was nothing to get worked up over, but he couldn’t help but feel guilty that he wasn’t there for them; like they were growing up behind his back. His grand vision for Grannvale was his life’s work, his biggest dream. He knew he couldn’t ignore it for long, but neither could he ignore his family. “Julia, Julius…” he began, taking a deep breath. “The work I have is lessening. Soon, after the summer is over, we can have a day together. I promise you.” There were a multitude of holidays in the colder months. If not before, then on one of those days, he could do something with them. They were old enough to understand and appreciate all of Grannvale’s festivals and celebrations.

They nodded enthusiastically. He truly didn’t deserve this.

*****

He returned to the garden one day on his own. He did not need to be led there by Julius or Julia. Julius had no time to care for the gardens; even if he did, he couldn’t care less about the plants there. And Julia was gone, gods knew where. Somewhere safe, somewhere that she could get a better life than one led near Julius (or, more accurately, whatever was left of him).

Arvis wasn’t sure why. He hadn’t been near the gardens ever since that day. It was too painful for him to go there or anywhere that might remind him about them. But he finally had the time to check them out, ever since Julius had pretty much taken his throne except in title.

Tending to the various bushes, the gardeners worked quietly. Perhaps in the past they might have given him a cordial “hello” or something of the sort; now, they lived in fear of him, much like everyone else. They bowed deeply when they entered, and the garden stayed silent until he passed them. Quiet chatter resumed once he was far away from them. No one had touched the baby’s breath. It’s flowers were brown and wilted; it crunched in his hand when he reached out to grab one.

The roses seemed quite wilted too. The dark, black color still persisted even though the petals hung to the ground. Perhaps these weren’t beyond saving. His eyes fell upon a watering can nearby, and he knew what he wanted to do.

He picked it up; it was filled with water, though it was hot, as if it had been sitting in the sun all day. It would be good enough, since he didn’t really feel like bothering the gardeners and standing in the awkward silence. Arvis paused for a few moments. He still had no idea how much water to give the flowers; he had no idea how much to give them. In all the weeks that they had grown these, how many times had I helped them? He thought, frowning. Arvis dismissed the thought; he would have time to dwell on these sorts of things by himself, lest he get teary-eyed out here.

Considering their deteriorated state, he’d probably be alright even if he gave it a bit too much water. He sat until most of the water was drained and until the leaves were dripping water onto the stone floors. Only when Arvis set the watering can back down did he notice how quiet it had become. He peered into the main section of the garden; no one had left, but they were frozen. Their hands had stopped plucking weeds from the dirt, and they had stopped watering with their cans still in midair. It was as if they had been turned into statues.

Standing at the entrance was a small, red-haired boy. “Father!” he called, a grin on his face. Maybe one day, Arvis would have thought that it was cute; he knew Julius too well now. The grin had no mirth behind it. It was cold and devious, much like how he had become. He walked leisurely past the gardeners, and Arvis could only pray that they didn’t do anything that would anger him. “What are you doing back here?”

“Nothing, Julius,” he said quietly. “What’s the matter?” Arvis could not distract him from the bush of dark roses.

“Manfroy wants you,” he said, but that seemed of little importance now to Julius. He tried to brush past Arvis towards the flowers. Arvis tried to block the entrance with his body in the most subtle way possible. “Can’t a son see the flowers he had grown with his sister?” The false sweetness in his voice pained Arvis, and he stepped aside.

Julius kneeled and stared at the flowers for a few moments before walking off, laughing all the while.

“How sentimental you’ve become… I suppose I’ll let you have this, if it brings such meaning to your life.”


End file.
